


Collar

by bubbles_oh



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Other, Sehun-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 11:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8055418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubbles_oh/pseuds/bubbles_oh
Summary: For as long as he had known, Sehun had worn a collar.catboy! au





	Collar

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is a (kinda) cute little oneshot I thought of during Chemistry xD  
> Hope you like it :)
> 
> ~bubbles

For as long as he had known, Sehun had worn a collar. When he was a kitten, fresh out of the litter, he’d been given a plain black collar with his name and the pet shop’s phone number engraved on the side. Although he’d hated the restrictive, occasionally itchy item at first, Sehun had grown to appreciate the safety and security the thin band of leather provided – that’s why he’d cried like a baby kitten when the collar, weathered and frayed from a decade of use, had finally snapped.

Soon after, he’d been deemed old enough to be sold, and the owner of the pet shop hadn’t bothered to give him a new one. He’d sat in the display window of the shop every week on Monday and Wednesday, still sniffling and rubbing his bare throat as he sent pitiful looks to all of the humans walking past outside.

Despite his red, swollen eyes and wilted cat ears, his angelic beauty had drawn dozens of customers; he’d been walking home beside his new owner before he knew it.

Home. Sehun hadn’t really had one before. Sure, he’d lived in the pet shop for all his life, but it wasn’t really a **home**. As he skipped along happily next to his equally angelic owner, he decided that the only thing better would be having his collar wrapped safely around his throat.

After a few weeks at his new home, Sehun’s previous excitement and joy over being sold had long since faded. He now spent his days moping around in the various sunlit spots around the house, depressed that he still hadn’t gotten another collar, but even more depressed that his owner didn’t notice.

How could he have? The young, baby-faced businessman (who Sehun now knew was called Luhan) was constantly out of the house, and whenever Sehun asked him where he was or where he was going, the only response he got was, “Office.”

Finally, Sehun couldn’t take it anymore. He mustered up all the courage he had – which wasn’t much for a catboy who had been trained not to show any – and approached his seemingly unapproachable owner.

“Master,” he began in a timid, small voice.

“What’s with this whole ‘master’ business? I thought I told you to call me Luhan,” the man replied in an annoyed tone.

“Sorry, Mas-I mean, Luhan,” Sehun continued shyly, “I just kinda had something I maybe wanted to ask you about…” he trailed off at the end.

In a surprisingly gentle voice, Luhan replied, “What is it? You know you can ask me for anything, Sehunnie.”

Cheeks dusted lightly with pink at the unexpected nickname, Sehun mumbled out, “Iwantanewcollarifthat’sokaywithyou.”

“You want a new collar? **That’s** what this is all about? The reason why you’ve been slinking around the house like someone stole your favorite squeaky rat toy?” Luhan narrowed his eyes at Sehun in disbelief.

Surprised and slightly touched that Luhan had actually noticed, Sehun said (with decidedly more confidence), “Yes. That’s what I wanted. That’s what I needed.”

Luhan replied softly, “Okay. If that’s what you want, of course you can have it.”

Seeing Sehun’s previously droopy ears perk up with joy, the man chuckled affectionately at his adorable pet before continuing, “But only on one condition.”

“What? What is it? I’ll do anything!” Sehun replied, nodding his head vigorously.

“I want you to tell me why.”

Sehun stopped moving immediately, body quivering with anxiety and head frozen half-nod. 

_Should he tell Luhan?_

No. He wasn’t ready, he told himself. He wasn’t ready yet. But what could he do now? He’d just foolishly promised Luhan that he would do **anything**.

“I…” he mumbled, shaking voice betraying his nervousness, “I c-can’t do that, sir.”

Seeing his pet trembling in fear and looking younger than he ever had before, Luhan stood and walked over to Sehun, kneeling in front of him before speaking again.

“Why not? If you tell me, no matter what it is, I can help you feel better.”

Hearing the honesty and genuine care in Luhan’s voice, Sehun felt a surge of emotions rise from the pit of his stomach, and his chest tightened in a way that it never had before.

But something was holding him back still, the one concern that Sehun just couldn’t let go of yet.

“Y-you’ll hate me…you’ll kick me out for being a stupid cat, I’m sure of it.” he said self-consciously, voice thick with despair and tears welling up in his eyes.

“Look, Sehun, I just want you to trust me. Whatever is troubling you, just tell me. Hyung will solve it for you, okay?”

Hearing that short, yet incredibly meaningful promise, whatever hesitation Sehun had left dissolved. He jumped onto Luhan, agile feline reflexes allowing him to land comfortably and engulf his owner in a tight embrace. The tears he had held back spilled onto his soft cheek as he clung onto the other man as though he was Sehun’s lifeline.

Surprised, Luhan’s body tensed briefly in shock before he relaxed, wrapping his arms around his little pet and rocking them both back and forth while whispering sweet words of comfort into his ears.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’ve got you, baby. It’s okay.”

Sehun sobbed even louder at the endearment and wrapped his fluffy white tail around Luhan’s waist as the man carried them over to the couch.

A few minutes later when Sehun’s wails had dwindled into whimpers and he sat securely on Luhan’s lap, the man spoke up again.

“I didn’t know this was such a traumatic topic for you…I never would have mentioned it if I had known, and as your owner, I should have been able to tell that you weren’t comfortable discussing it. I’m truly sorry,” he said, head bowed in shame.

Seeing the sincerity in Luhan’s face and hearing the regret in his tone made Sehun feel sick to his stomach.

“N-no! No, it’s okay. I’m ready to talk about it now!” Sehun rushed to reassure his owner, not wanting to see sadness in Luhan’s beautiful brown eyes any longer.

Luhan lifted his head quickly.

 “Really?” he replied in an astonished voice, “You want to tell me? You trust me that much?”

Sehun’s answer surprised both Luhan and himself.

“Yes. I trust you, Luhan.” _More than even I know,_ Sehun thought. Despite not having many interactions with the busy brunette since moving into his home, Sehun still felt a connection with Luhan that ran much deeper than any connection he’d had with his litter mates at the pet shop.

Said man, as though understanding exactly what Sehun was thinking, tightened his grip around Sehun’s thin waist and rested his chin in the catboy’s blonde hair, waiting for him to continue.

Correctly interpreting Luhan’s silence as his signal to proceed, Sehun began the tale, already lost in the memories of his early childhood.

As a young child, stuck in the awkward phase between kitten and cat, Sehun had been a surprisingly obedient and well-behaved catboy; one could have gone so far as to say he seemed like a different species altogether when compared to his rowdy, rebellious litter mates.

However, there had been one thing that could rile him up to the point where there was no difference between him and any other young catboy – his collar.

Sehun had hated the thing with a passion.

Every day, when he looked in the mirror after his shower, saw his picture in the shop’s catalogue, and caught a slight view of his reflection in the display window, he was reminded that he belonged to someone else. Someone other than himself.

Of course, when he had (albeit quite rudely) shared his thoughts with the trainers, he’d been subject to the beating of his life from the stout headmaster. The following three-hour-long lecture on catboys and their place in society had been enough to increase his hatred of the collar and all that it signified tenfold.

Sehun had finally been close to accepting that his would be a life spent wearing a collar and calling some random human “Master” when he had come across the group of slightly older rogue catboys.

He’d heard of rogues before – who hadn’t? They seemed to be everywhere now; packs of unwanted, untrained catboys roaming the streets of Seoul and causing panic among population regulation committees throughout the city.

At first, his mostly obedient nature had kept him away from the group of ruffians, but naturally, that could only last for so long. He walked past them without even sparing them a glance on his way to the market every Sunday for two months before he couldn’t hold his curiosity any longer.

The first time he’d approached them, he’d been rebuffed none too gently; the leader, Kris, had scoffed once before mocking Sehun with the words,

“Didn’t you ever hear that curiosity killed the cat? You’re just a spoiled little kitty who doesn’t know shit about fighting the system.”

Sehun had stumbled back in shock and ran all the way back home with his tail tucked firmly between his legs.

As he had lain in bed later that night next to Jongdae (his favorite litter mate), Sehun had realized that they were right. He really didn’t know anything about fighting the system, or whatever they were talking about – but he wanted to. Oh, he wanted to know so badly.

He just wanted someone to tell him **why** it was better this way, why he needed to wear this collar for the rest of life, and most importantly, why he was supposed to feel pride in this captivity.

The next time Sehun gathered the guts to approach the gang once again (nearly a full month later), he went prepared. Seeing that the leader was about to tell him off again, Sehun had hastily opened his mouth to speak.

Heart thudding nervously and perspiration forming on his brow, Sehun had said, “I know what you’re going to say already – that you think I’m just a little sheltered kitten who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But that’s not true, and I’m gonna prove it to you now,” he had said, slowly gaining confidence as he spoke. Noticing Kris’s skeptical expression, Sehun continued on with the short speech he’d been practicing for two whole weeks in the bathroom mirror.

“I want you to take off my collar.”

Hearing this, the whole gang burst into laughter, teasing each other about how naïve they’d been to believe that the little brat was actually going to step up.

“I’m serious!” Sehun had shouted, tips of his fur-covered ears turning red in embarrassment. “If you help me take off my collar with your teeth, I’ll join your gang and fight the system with you guys.”

This time, seeing that the rogues were no longer mocking him or laughing, Sehun had straightened up, waiting for their reply.

Kris had addressed Sehun, this time in a serious voice, “Are you sure?”

And much like how he had placed his trust in Luhan, Sehun had replied, “Yes. This is what I want.”

Over the course of the next hour Sehun had rushed back to the pet shop and quietly packed a duffel bag full of his belonging, careful not to wake Jongdae or his other napping litter mates. Then, he had returned to the gang’s hideout, where Kris’s right hand man, a black-haired catboy called Tao, had removed his collar without breaking it and placed it into the front pocket of Sehun’s duffle bag “Just in case.”

Sehun mind had been racing with the possibilities of what life outside the pet shop could hold as the gang had started their journey across Seoul in search of a new hideout to plan their campaign for cat rights.

However, as the days dragged on while Sehun dragged his feet, he had begun to miss the security and amenities available at the pet shop. No matter, he had told himself one night after a particularly close call with the cops, it’s all part of the sacrifice for a better life. A free life.

But there was only so much a young child like himself could take before he snapped.

One night after a full day of travel and close calls, the gang and Sehun had set up their shabby sleeping bags in an alley just outside a nightclub. Unable to fall asleep, Sehun had unzipped his sleeping bag and wandered out into the street in search of a restroom. Realizing that the nightclub nearby would probably have a restroom but not quite understanding the danger of entering such a place, Sehun had done exactly that.

He tensed on Luhan’s lap, voice beginning to shake once again as he resumed the story.

As he’d waded through the crowd in the nightclub, Sehun had been unable to find the restroom. Ignorant to the stares and leers being sent his way, the young (yet still undoubtedly attractive) catboy had walked up to a suit-clad man sitting at the bar and said politely,

“Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where the restroom is?”

The man, whose name Sehun had yet to discover but whose lecherous grin still gave him nightmares, had replied, “Sure, little one. Follow me, and I’ll take you to the restroom.”

So Sehun had followed the middle-aged man across the dance floor and into a secluded corridor. Not seeing a restroom anywhere, confusion had spread across Sehun’s handsome features.

“Um, sir? Where’s the restroom? I don’t see it anywhere.”

“Silly kitty, you didn’t think I was actually going to take you to the restroom did you? Not with a face and a body like yours,” the man had tsked, shaking his head in mock disapproval.

Sehun still hadn’t gotten hold of the situation (which, now that he thinks about it, just shows how immature he was), and asked in confusion, “Then wha –

Sehun shuddered again on Luhan’s lap as he recalled what happened next.

The man had moved far more quickly than anyone of his size and age should have been able to; before Sehun could so much as blink, there was a weird-smelling cloth pressed to his face, and his world had faded to black.

“It’s okay. That’s enough for today, pet. You did great, Sehunnie.” Luhan said reassuringly as he stroked a still-trembling Sehun’s hair.

“No, Luhan. I want to finish this. I **need** to finish this today, once and for all.” Sehun replied strongly, looking up at Luhan with determination in his dark gray eyes.

When Sehun had regained consciousness, the first thing he had noticed was that he was lying on the floor of the corridor that the man had led him into the previous night. The second thing was the pile of clothes, tattered and torn from overuse that lay next to his body on the concrete. 

As he tried to stand, using one hand to balance himself on the wall, Sehun was easily able to piece together the previous night’s events. With a sinking feeling in his gut and shaking hands, Sehun had pulled on his clothes as best he could before stumbling out of the nightclub and into the alley where the gang had slept the previous night.

Only to discover that they were gone. In fact, there was absolutely no trace that they had ever slept there. Like the rotten cherry on top of a melted ice cream sundae, they had taken his bag as well.

“Everything I owned was in that bag,” Sehun told Luhan, sorrow clear in his voice all though many years had passed, “Everything that made me, me, was in that bag. But you know what’s ironic?”

Luhan shook his head no.

“The only thing they left behind was my collar. I looked around and saw no other trace that they had ever existed – except for the collar. For the next few weeks as I wandered Seoul trying to find my way back, that was the only thing keeping me sane.”

Sehun sighed sadly before continuing, “And now you know. That’s the reason why I need my collar.”

This time, Luhan nodded in agreement. “Yes,” he said while nodding, “Now I know.”

There was a short period of silence, and then,

“Do you hate me?”

Luhan stopped stroking Sehun’s hair. More silence. Then,

“No.”

“Then why aren’t you saying anything besides ‘yes’ and ‘no?’” Sehun all but screamed in frustration. “I literally just told you the most traumatic experience of my life and now my insides are about to explode just waiting for you to respond!”

Suddenly, Luhan burst into tears, sobbing into the crook of Sehun’s neck as the startled catboy looked on in shock.

“I’m sorry!” he said between sobs. “I just can’t believe that I’ve been neglecting you for work and not asking you what you need, and letting you suffer in silence, and – I’m sorry!” he wailed.

This time it was Sehun rubbing comforting circles on Luhan’s back and trying to calm him down.

“It’s not your fault, Luhan. I should have trusted you and told you before.” Sehun said softly.

Luhan sniffled a few more times before replying, “It’s okay. As long as you trust me now, you’ll be okay. **We’ll** be okay.”

A bubble of relief and comfort expanded through Sehun’s body, and he finally relaxed, letting Luhan carry his emotionally drained body upstairs and into his bedroom.

As they lay next to each other in the tiny twin size bed, Sehun quickly dozed off to the feeling of Luhan’s thin, delicate fingers tracing the outline of his well-defined features. Just before he fell asleep completely, Sehun heard Luhan sigh once before whispering softly, “I hope one day you will trust and love me enough to get rid of that collar once and for all, like you always wanted.”

A faint smile pulled at Sehun’s small pink lips as he thought, _Me too, hyung. Me too_ , before falling asleep.


End file.
